Solutions, Density and Graphing: Lab Data Sheet and Report Template
Fill in your section number and names.____________________________________________________________________________________
Is this report your group’s submission to be graded? (YES or NO) _________________________
Sec:__________ Names:_________________________ TA:____________________________
_________________________
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Complete the following information from your experimental data.
For calibration of your pycnometer give:
Mass of empty pycnometer: ______________________________ g
Mass of pycnometer filled with DI water: ___________________ g
Mass of DI water in pycnometer: __________________________ g
Room temperature: ____________________________________ °C
Density of water at room temperature: ___________________g / mL
Volume of pycnometer: _________________________________ mL For
the calibration curve, give:
Sugar Conc. (g/5 mL) Mass of Solution and Mass of Solution (g) Density (g/mL)
Pycnometer (g)
Type of Curve Fit Used:______________________________
Curve Fit Equation:______________________________
RMSE:_____________________
For the soda samples, give:
Soda Name Mass of Soda and Mass of Soda Density (g/mL) Sugar Conc. Sugar in 12 fl. oz.
Pycnometer (g) (g) (g/5 mL) can (oz.)
The graph you produced will also be evaluated as part of your results. Questions are included on the following
pages.
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1. For each experiment this semester, you will be asked to write a statement of the scientific purpose of the lab in
your notebook. The scientific purpose is often the final, post-analysis result from your experimentation, answering
the question “why would one do this experiment?”. In one sentence, what was the purpose of this experiment?
Then, also in one sentence, in broad terms, explain how the parts of the procedure allowed you to achieve that
purpose.
Purpose –
Procedure steps that allowed you to achieve that goal –
2. Describe the steps you took to prepare your standard sugar solutions. Sufficiently-detailed answers will likely
require about three sentences.
3. In this experiment you prepared your sugar solutions in a volumetric flask. Explain why the volumetric flask
was specified rather than the 5 mL line on a beaker or graduated cylinder.
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4. What would be the consequences of not drying the interior of the pycnometer between samples during the
calibration process? Would you expect your density measurements to be higher, lower, or the same as if you worked
from a dry pycnometer?
If the pycnometer was not dried in between samples the residual water left in the
pycnometer would affect the mass and therefore the density of the sugar solutions. As a
consequence, the density measurements of the sugar solutions would be lower than if we
worked with a dry pycnometer. This is because at the lab’s temperature the density of water
is about 0.99810, versus the density of each of the sugar solutions is above 1.03. The less
dense residual water would lower the density of the sugar solutions.
5. Suppose you worked for a soft drink company in their quality control department. Samples from several batches
of the soda (before carbonation is added) consistently yield densities that align with the sugar concentration stated in
the nutrition facts of those sodas. You then sample a batch that yields a density 0.015 g/mL lower than expected.
(Suppose the expected density was higher than 1.030 g/mL.)
a. Without the quantitative numerical information from a calibration curve from standard sugar solutions, what
qualitative/categorical feedback regarding the sugar content in the soda could you give to the people who run the
manufacturing facility?
We could suggest that the manufacturers make sure that when they are creating the sugar
solution to fill the cans that nothing dilutes the sugar solution that is added to the soda. You
could also suggest that there wasn’t enough sugar in the last batch that was checked
compared to the amount of soda.
b. If you were working with a calibration curve from standard sugar solutions, what further feedback could you
give to the people who run the manufacturing facility? Answer this question by calculating how much the sugar
concentration of that sample differ from the batches with density 1.030 g/mL. Use the slope from your standard
solution plot to answer, show your work, and make sure that your answer is expressed with clear units.
If the density = 1.015 g/mL and the slope of the Standard solution is y = 0.077662x +
0.99781 Setting y = 1.015 g/mL we get a sugar concentration 0.221 g/5mL.
Versus if the density = 1.03 g/mL, setting y = 1.03 we get a sugar concentration of 0.4145
g/5mL.
With this information in mind we could tell the manufacturers that the sample they
provided had only about half as much sugar per 5mL of solution compared to what the
expected samples have.
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Solutions, Density and Graphing
